One-party leadership perpetuated PWSA woes

Regarding the Nov. 12 letter “Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority Has Put Customers in a Terrible Situation”:

In his letter, Harry Choder asks, “What have the people in charge of our water been doing forthe past so many years? If politics has been in play, it’s not a surprise.” He is right. It was no surprise to our elected officials.

Since PWSA’s creation in 1984, the mayor of Pittsburgh has been responsible for appointing the members of the PWSA board. These appointees must include financial officers of the city and at least one member of city council. So, our elected officials have known and approved of the policies of PWSA since its creation. This includes knowledge of loading debt onto the PWSA for uses other than providing services to PWSA customers and putting “workers” on the PWSA payroll who never did any work. It also includes knowledge of the long-term neglect of the need for many capital improvements.

But we are a one-party town. For politicians who face no competition, “out of sight is out of mind.” It’s better to simply put off making tough decisions that will cost money. So past mayors and members of council had no incentive to talk about the longstanding problems and political abuse of the PWSA until the system’s billing problems and lead problems became unavoidable public issues.

Unless a viable local party emerges to compete with the local Democratic Party, there is little reason to believe that longstanding problems that led to the current PWSA situation, or to the impending bankruptcy of the city in 2003, will ever come under public scrutiny before a crisis makes public notice unavoidable. JACK OCHS Point Breeze

We can have good jobs and a clean environment. The clean energy economy is growing. There are twice the number of clean economy jobs now in Pennsylvania than jobs in oil and gas. Furthermore, there is lots of room in our region for the development of more jobs contributing to the spread of clean energy and fueled by clean energy.

Solar power is helping fuel our economy, both as a contributor to the electric grid and as a way for businesses and individuals to be energy independent. Wind power is coming into its own as a job-creating industry. Electric vehicles are everywhere. Jobs in energy efficiency are numerous, and there is room for many more as building owners realize how much money insulating saves.

We do not need to keep propping up Big Oil and Gas with taxpayer money so they can pollute the environment and make people sick. We need to move on to a new era, one where good wages support healthy families. NORA JOHNSON

Squirrel Hill

The Nov. 12 Forum essay of the Rev. Harold T. Lewis, “Genuflection as Protest,” attempts to legitimize NFL athletes’ kneeling in protest during the pregame national anthem. He uses the words “genuflect” and “kneel,” both of which describe actions taken by individuals in ceremonies of honor, respect, veneration, subservience, homage, allegiance and worship.

However, words do have specific meaning and effect in different circumstances. We kneel in churches, we kneel in battle, we kneel in medical emergencies. These activities require similar physical action

We welcome your opinion

for totally different reasons.

The honor of knighthood entails an individual kneeling. The honor of religious ordination entails an individual kneeling in veneration and worship. The honor of an audience granted by royalty or religious leader often entails an individual kneeling for respect. All of these actions are generally personal, singular and celebrational. There is no thought or intent of confrontation or resulting infringement onthe rights of others.

In contrast, group actions by athletes described as “taking the knee” (kneeling) in protest during the pregame national anthem is by nature confrontational. It infringes on the rights of paying sports fans who respect and honor the flag, country and those who sacrifice in the military.

In addition, sports fans who are paying for entertainment and relaxation should not be subjected to unwanted political controversy. Civil protest displays and patriotism displays are two very different activities that are as unmixable as oil and water. The two activities do not belong in the same venue. EUGENE PASQUINELLI

South Fayette